Tillage implement.



H. s. DICKINSON.

TILLAGE IMPLEMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4, ms.

1 07,146. Patented Dec. 5,1916.

* srarns ATENT FFIQE.

HARRY S. DICKINSON, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MOLINE PLOW COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TILLAGE IMPLEMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY S. DICKINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tillage Implements, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to tillage implements, and has reference more particularly to the means for mounting the tillage tools so that while under normal conditions of operation in the field the tool will be held to its work, it will be permitted to yield with reference to the frame, when the tool is subjected to excessive strain as for instance when encountering an obstruction such as a stone, stump, or the like.

My invention is designed with particular reference, though not necessarily limited to, the mounting of the rotary disks of tractor drawn disk gang plows in which plows, considerable difiiculty has been experienced on account of the excessive strain which the disks and their mountings are subjected to when encountering an obstruction, the whole strain, when the obstruction is encountered by a single disk, being concentrated on said disk. If the parts are mounted unyieldingly, they must be of such dimensions in order to afford the necessary strength to resist the entire pull of the engine, that they will present undesirable features, such for instance as excessive weight to be carried at all times, the liability of stalling the motor, and the difficulty in clearing the plow from the obstructions. In order to avoid these objections I propose to mount the disks in such improved manner that while under normal conditions of plowing they will be held firmly to their work, yet in the event of the disk being subjected to excessive strain, such as would result from the encountering of an obstruction, the disk will be permitted to yield and will relieve the strain without injury to the parts.

In accordance with my invention the support in which the disk is rotatably mounted is so sustained by the frame that it may move relatively to the same, and I provide a fastening member engaging the frame and support respectively and acting to normally sustain the support to hold the disk to its work, the said fastening member being adapted to be broken or ruptured by a tensional strain applied thereto when the disk is subjected to excessive strain, the result being that the support being released, the disk will be permitted to move back and will thus relieve the strain thereon.

In the particular embodiment of the invention shown, the support for the disk is applied to a sustaining bracket depending from the frame of the machine, and my invention consists also in an improved manner of mounting the bracket on the frame so that it may be adjusted relatively thereto in order to vary the angl of the disk relatively to the surface of the ground, according to the conditions of the soil.

My invention consists also in the details of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a disk plow with my invention embodied therein, one of the disks being shown in released inoperative position, and the fastening memher broken. Fig. 2 is an elevation partly in section of a portion of the frame and one of the disks and its support, the latter being sustained in operative relation by the fastening member and holding the disk to its work. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the frame with part broken away to show how the disk supporting bracket is attached. Fig. l is a side elevation of one of the disk supporting brackets removed from the frame. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the same.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention by way of example enibodied in a tillage implement in which the tillage tools are in the form of rotary plowing disks, but it will be manifest that the invention is not limited to a machine of this particular type, but is applicable as well to other forms of machines employing tillage tools adapted by the advance of the machine to act in the ground.

The machine illustrated comprises a suitable horizontal frame 1 supported at one side by front and rear furrow wheels (not shown) and at the other side by a land wheel (not shown) and giving support to a number of plowing disks 5, and as the construction and mounting of the several plowing disks in accordance with my invention are the same for the individual disks, a descrip tion of one mounting will suflicef The disk is rotatably mounted in a support 7 in the form of a head or blockwhich is pivoted on a horizontal axis, as by a pivot bolt 8, to the lower end of a depending sustaining bracket .9, the upper end of which is firmly fixed to the frame of the machine in the manner to be more fully described hereinafter. The axis formed by the pivot bolt is situated preferably a short distance above the axis of rotation of the disk and in the rear of said disk, so that the support may swing in a fore and aft direction relatively to the frame, in which swinging motion the lower portion of the disk will move to the rear. The support is provided at its upper end with a lug 10, and the bracket is provided on its side with a laterally extending lug 11, which lugs are formed each with an opening extending therethrough, and which lugs, when the support is swung rearwardly to an upright position will face each other and the openings in the lugs will register with each other. This is the position of the parts when the disk is presented in working position inclined slightly to the rear and standing at an angle to the line of advance of the machine. The support is sustained in this position with the disk held to its work, by means of a fastening member, in the present instance in the form of a bolt 12 which extends through the openings in the juxtaposed lugs, a head 12 being applied to the rear end of the bolt and bearing P against the rear face of the lug on the bracket, and a nut 12' being screwed on the opposite end of the bolt and bearing against the forward face of the lug on the support. The bolt is of such dimensions and so predeterminately selected as to its dimensions and material that it will sustain the support and hold the disk to its work under the normal conditions of plowing in different characters of soil, but it will be broken or fractured when the strain on the disk becomes excessive, such as would be produced by the disk encountering an obstruction such as a stump, stone or the like. Under such conditions the strain being applied to the lower portion, or that part of the disk which acts in the soil, will have a tendency to rock the support on its axis and swing the upper portion of the same forwardly, and the force of the strain being applied as a tension strain endwise of the bolt, the latter will as the excessive strain continues, be parted or ruptured, thereby freeing the support and permitting the disk to swing rearwardly at its lower portion on the axial connection of the support as a center. As a result, the supporting parts which sustain the disk will be prevented from being broken or injured. When the obstruction has been removed, the support is swung again to its normal. position to sustain the disk in its proper operative relation, and a new bolt is applied to hold the parts in position.

I am aware that many forms of so-called break pins have been provided to permit the tillage tool to yield under abnormal con- I ditions, such pins being usually of wood and so applied that they are adapted to be severed by a shearing action. Such devices are objectionable among other reasons, because the constant vibration of the tool in action will gradually cut and wear away the pin until the transverse strength of the same has been so far reduced that the pin will give way under the normal conditions of work, which of course is undesirable and entails waste of time and labor in replacing the pin. In cases where metal pins have been substituted for wood, these also are cut by the relative movement and jar of the connected parts, and become weakened as well as causing injury to the holes in which they are mounted, causing the hole to become rounded and requiring for the shearing of the pin, not only a shearing action but a tortional strain. In my improved construe tion, on the other hand, the breaking or rupturing strain is a purely tensional strain, and the degree of strain which the pin will stand before breaking, may be accurately and precisely determined by the proper proportioning of its diameter and the proper selection of the quality of steel employed.

By the application of the fastening pin illustrated and described, a desirable adjustment of the disk may be effected by lengthening or shortening the pin, the shortening of the pin causing the disk to occupy a greater angle or a more nearly upright position, and the lengthening of the pin causing the disk to assume a less degree of angle to the surface of the ground.

The depending bracket 9 which sustains the disk is provided at its upper end with a horizontal flat head 13 which is seated against the under side of the frame of the machine and is fastened thereto by means of a vertical pivot bolt 14lextending through the head and frame and confining the bracket on the frame in such manner that the bracket may be turned about the vertical axis of the bolt to different positions of adjustment to vary the angle of the disk relative to the line of travel. The bracket is secured in the desired position of adjustment by means of two clamping bolts 15 which extend through arcuate slots 16 in the head, and through the frame, the said slotsrextending in arcs whose centers are coincident with the pivot bolt 14:. At its edge the head 13 of the bracket is provided with an upwardly extending lug 16 containing a horizontal hole in which is screwed an adjusting bolt 17, the inner end of which is adapted to engage against the forward side of the frame, the purpose of this bolt being to adjust the bracket about its vertical axis when the clamping bolts 15 are released. By mounting the disk sustaining brackets in this manner, the angle of the faces of the disks relative to the line of travel may be varied in order to meet the varying conditions encountered in practice as regards the nature of the soil, etc.

The accompanying drawings and foregoing description set forth my invention in its preferred form and embodied in a tillage implement of the disk plow type. It will be manifest however that the invention is applicable to other forms of agricultural implements such as moldboard plows, cultivators, barrows, and the like, without departing from the limits of the invention; and it will be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular form or construction of the parts except in so far as such limitations are specified in the claims.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim is:

1. In a tillage implement, the combination of a frame provided with an upright frame member, a tillage tool, a support for said tool pivoted to the frame member to swing back and forth in the line of advance of the implement, horizontal openings in the support and frame member respectively, extending in the direction of swinging movement of the support and arranged above the pivotal axis of the support, said openings adapted to register with each other when the support is in position to present the tool in active position for work, and a horizontal pin extending through said openings and acting to normally sustain the support to hold the tool to its work, said pin being of a predetermined strength to become ruptured by a tensional pull thereon when the tool is subjected to undue strain.

In a tillage implement, the combination of a frame provided with a depending frame member having a lug projecting laterally therefrom and formed with a fore and aft extending opening therethrough, a tillage tool, a support for said tool pivoted to the frame member on a horizontal transverse axis and provided with a laterally extending lug having a fore and aft opening therethrough, which lugs are adapted to face each other with the openings in registry when the support is swung rearwardly to sustain the tool in an active position, and a fastening bolt extending in a fore and aft direction through said openings and provided at one end with a head and at the other end with a nut bearing respectively against the outer faces of the lugs, said bolt acting to normally sustain the support to hold the tool to its work and being adapted to be fractured by a tensional strain thereon when the tool is subjected to excessive strain.

3. In a tillage implement, the combination of a frame provided with a depending frame member, a plowing disk, a disk support in which said plowing disk is rotatably mounted, said support being mounted on the frame member to swing in a fore and aft direction to carry the lower portion of the disk rearwardly, and a fastening member engaging the frame member and support respectively and acting to normally sustain the support to hold the plowing disk to its work, said fastening member being adapted to be ruptured by a tensional strain thereon when the disk is subjected to excessive strain.

4. In a tillage implement, the combination of a frame provided with a depending frame member, a plowing disk, a disk support in which said plowing disk is rotatably mounted, said support being mounted on the frame member to swing in a fore and aft direction about an axis located in rear of the disk and adjacent the axis of rotation of the disk, and a fastening member engaging the disk and support respectively and acting to normally sustain the support to hold the disk to its work, said member being adapted to be ruptured by a tensional strain thereon when the disk is subjected to excessive strain.

In testimony whereof, I have afiixed my signature.

HARRY S. DIGKIN SON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

